The Royal Tombs Via Way of the Jester

The Royal Tombs located on the outskirts of Hue are one of the major attractions to the region, with every tour company in the city offering day trips via tour bus to 3 tombs and a boat ride down the perfume river for approximately $40 with entrance fees. My version of the trip goes a little bit different on the $7 Huckle Tour!

I started with an 7:00 AM wake up to begin the 7 km run to the first temple. Once over the bridge and outside the city boundary, scenery and atmosphere drastically changed. Instead of motor bikes honking and heckling me for a ride, school children followed me on their bicycles asking me the only basic English questions they knew. As I got further out into the country the morning sun was already beating down and I decided to stop at a different tomb.

This first stop was  tomb not even on the map, making it the perfect first location. Not a tourist to be seen but rather nestled off the main road into a forested hillside along a narrow dirt path. Small in size but big in it's eerie, silent morning atmosphere in the misty morning light, the true feeling of a cryptic tomb.

Back on the road I could begin to see the tour buses rolling past me, continuing the run towards the next tomb. A woman on a motor bike kept driving along side me offering me rides saying how far it was and how hot is, but I kept going as did she. She decided to escort me up the hill and to the tomb. As we approached she explained to the women along the side of the road selling souvenirs that I had ran there and they began to cheer me on like some sort of crazy person.

When I arrived at the over 150 year old Tomb of Tu Duc several people from the tour buses recognized me and congratulated me. Entering the tomb seemed more like a palace. A large expanse of land surrounded my stone walls and lilly filled moats where concubines once waited. The tomb itself was guarded by 1 elephant, 1 horse and 5 men statues on either side with a giant stone encryption in the middle.


This is the point where the Huckle Tour goes where all the other tourists would never. As they returned to their river boats I continued to where the road ended to begin a short trek through some thin jungle into rice paddy fields. I don't think there is ever a moment as peaceful as trudging through a flooded rice paddy field where people are hard at work in the sunlight, buffalo wade in the water munching away, and white cranes fly to and fro. You really become one with the land and its offerings. Not an experience included in the $40 Tour.
After a half hour I emerged into a small town where the Tomb of Thieu Tri rests. Once again I was the only person at this temple where lazy dogs lay in the sun attempting to bark and scare me off. The grounds keeper looked surprised to see a visitor. The Tomb itself although not incredibly old was completely falling apart and not maintained. It is a shame that things not on the normal tourist trail are bothered about with up keeping.

With looming clouds I decided to head the 9 km back to the city with the same cheering fans along the way even when the rains began. Not exactly the perfect trip for most, but the perfect trip for me. Doing the things that no one else does is what real travelling is all about.